“Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in between,” political strategist James Carville once said. This quote usually irritates the good citizens of Pittsburgh, who dislike being put in the same category as what they view as the trash-talking, Eagles-loving, cheese-steak-eating barbarians from the east; they identify with the more midwestern flavor of their Steel City. They would especially dislike such comparisons now, with Philadelphia devolving into a morass of urban violence stoked by the progressive policies of its top officials. But what if Pittsburgh is heading in the same direction?
Philadelphia voters elected a progressive mayor, Jim Kenney, who spends more time on woke policies than on making sure that the trash gets picked up and the police are adequately staffed. The Philadelphia city council passes ordinances that make it harder for police to do their jobs, like prohibiting cops from engaging in traffic stops in the name of “equity.” And Philadelphia has elected and reelected a district attorney, Larry Krasner, who is known around the nation for refusing to prosecute criminals, even stating that it is counterproductive to prosecute felons in possession of firearms. The results were predictable. Philadelphia is now experiencing scenes of urban violence like the Wild West shootout on tourist-heavy South Street on a recent weekend that saw three people killed and many more injured. And people and businesses are leaving the city, with a net loss of 25,000 citizens for Philadelphia in one year, as businesses blame weak law enforcement policies for emboldening violent criminals.
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Tom Hogan is an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
This piece originally appeared in RealClearPennsylvania